A headless CMS is a Content Management System that separates the two layers of website creation: the presentation layer and the content layer.
This means that developers can fully focus on creating the best possible frontend (presentation layer) for the website, app, etc., without the limitations of a fixed presentation layer often provided by traditional content management systems. Meanwhile, content creators can focus on the creation of content without having to worry about the presentation layer.
Why choose a headless CMS over a traditional CMS?
Compared to a traditional CMS, a headless CMS offers several benefits.
One of these benefits is already described in the intro but is very important. With a headless CMS, the developer is in charge of the frontend, and the content creator is in charge of the content, seems only logical, right? The developer decides what the content creator can or can't modify.
While traditional content management systems often use a template approach, a headless CMS offers full developer flexibility. This means a developer has complete freedom of choice regarding the frontend tools. The developer creates the frontend the way they want it and connects it to the content with an easy-to-use SDK. The frontend and backend are completely separated.
Another benefit of a headless CMS is that it's omnichannel. Meaning you can use the content from the CMS and connect it to multiple channels, such as a website, an app, or anything else. A traditional CMS usually only supports the content being displayed on one channel.
In short, a headless CMS is by far the best choice if you are a developer and create custom-built websites.
What makes Webigniter a unique headless CMS?
As a developer, at this point, you are probably getting warmed up by the idea of a headless CMS and wondering why you should choose Webigniter as your preferred headless CMS. Besides being a headless CMS, Webigniter offers some additional advantages over other headless content management systems.
Webigniter is a SaaS CMS; this means you don't have to install a copy of Webigniter on every website you create. It's hosted on our ultra-fast servers. You just create an account and connect your frontend through a very tiny and ultra-fast client script.
Webigniter also offers free web hosting for every Webigniter website, but you can also choose to use our preferred hosting.
Since it's a SaaS CMS, you can manage as many websites as you like with a single login on the CMS, so if you manage multiple websites, you don't need a separate login for each one. You can easily switch between the sites you are connected to with one click.
Webigniter is insanely fast. Page loading times (TTFB) of less than 100ms are no exception, and that's even without caching. We have put a lot of effort into creating one of the fastest content management systems available.
Last but not least... Webigniter is free for non-commercial use. So you can create as many non-commercial websites as you like. Only if you are building commercial websites or need priority support, for example, you can use one of our paid licenses.
When not to choose a headless CMS
There are also situations in which a traditional CMS (like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla) will be a better fit for your website.
For example, a headless CMS is not a 3-click website creation tool; it requires actual development, especially on the frontend side of the website. So if you don't have any (frontend) development experience or ambition or just want a template-based website online in 3 minutes, you should definitely not go for a headless CMS.
Conclusion
However, a headless CMS offers a more flexible, scalable, and secure CMS environment. The average time from 0 to a website may be somewhat longer. A headless CMS is great for custom-built websites or for developers who demand ultimate freedom to use the frontend tools of their choice. A headless CMS is not the best option when you don't want to do any developing or expect a 3-click website based on a template in 3 minutes.
